‘If only John Madden knew Tom Brady had the ball’: Tony Romo recalls the grave mistake everyone made during Super Bowl 36

Tom Brady vs. Kurt Warner, Marshal Faulk, and Isaac Bruce and ‘The Greatest Show on Turf.’ He probably doesn’t stand a chance right? 

He very much did. Brady was not your average second-year-starter-taking-over-for-an-injured-quarterback. He was destined for greatness, and now that he had his chance, he wasn’t going to relinquish it.

The 2001-02 season was incredible for many reasons, but one of the biggest things that season gave us was the birth of an NFL legend, someone who still dominates the game to the date despite being 44 years old. Ahead of the Rams game, nobody was giving New England a shot. And yet, there they were. The score nodded up at 17 a piece with only 1:37 to play.

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Tony Romo Recalls How Nobody Believed In Tom Brady To Pull Off A Game Winning Drive In Super Bowl 36

The Patriots weren’t in the best of position to pull off a game winning drive when you look back on it. There was only 1:37 left on the clock, and during that era of football, offenses weren’t as high powered, and getting down the field, espeically with basically a rookie quarterback, was challenging.

Additionally, the Rams had a pretty solid defense, so throwing Brady out there in that situation could have resulted in something more damaging (like a turnover) than rewarding.

However, neither Brady nor the Patriots backed down from the challenge, ready to take it straight at the Rams. Nobody thought it was a good decision. In fact, legendary commentator and head coach John Madden even said that the Patriots should basically give up and play for overtime.

Tony Romo and Tom Brady sat down recently to talk about football, Brady’s Super Bowls and some other topics, and eventually the conversation shifted to talking about Super Bowl 36. Romo recalled how John Madden severley doubted the Pats, shaking his head at the thought of ever questioning Brady’s clutch genes. You can watch the full video here, and they talk about Super Bowl 36 at about the 1:24 mark:

Brady would ultimately lead the Pats down on a clinical drive, hitting completions left and right to set up New England for a 48 yard field goal after a nine play 53 yard drive. Adam Vinateri drilled the kick, and the rest is history.

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